


so tell him, stranger (who you are)

by thestarsalonecantell



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, alright juho can do a thing where he sees the future, as in so. much.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 01:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15898407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarsalonecantell/pseuds/thestarsalonecantell
Summary: "But if there’s anything particularly great about it, it’s that he can definitely consider himself special, whether for better or for worse.After all, not everyone you meet has the ability to see their potential future with someone by looking them in the eyes."alternatively: Juho was born with a strange gift, which makes finding his forever almost impossible. When he locks eyes with a stranger across a crowded cafe, his visions of the future are stopped before they can finish, leaving him tempted to explore the possibilities presenting themselves to him.





	so tell him, stranger (who you are)

**Author's Note:**

> the title of this work in my docs: another zuseong because i have no self control
> 
> maggie is stressing about school and is therefore back on her bullshit folks... i hope you enjoy this short, fluffy and completely self-indulgent fic which is probably riddled with errors because it's unbeta-ed. 
> 
> i started this song listening to be my baby by the fray, and ended it listening to who you are by mihail (where the title is taken from). neither of the songs have any relevance to the fic, but the information is there. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy!! perhaps leave kudos or a comment if you do, or provide some constructive criticism if you think it's bad? in the second case, i don't blame you, it's poorly written. 
> 
> @/thestarsalone on twitter i post kpop rambles, come yell at me

Juho doesn’t know why he was given this gift- if he can even call it that. At times, it’s been useful to him, but it’s nothing but a bother, and sometimes very painful. But if there’s anything particularly great about it, it’s that he can definitely consider himself special, whether for better or for worse. 

 

After all, not everyone you meet has the ability to see their potential future with someone by looking them in the eyes. 

 

It started when he was a toddler. He’d look at the other child who asked to play with him and images of a fight over some toy would fill his mind. Soon enough, true to his premonition, they ended up fighting, over a toy tractor in fact. When he’d told his parents about it, they’d dismissed it as an overactive imagination. But it kept happening, and after a while Juho got wholly sick and tired of the visions that came into his head every time he met someone new- and he could never change what happened. 

 

However, one of the redeeming factors of the ability is that it’s helped him meet two of the best friends he could ask for. Seokwoo sat next to him in history class his first year of high school. When he turned to introduce himself, Juho saw everything flash in front of his eyes, playing football together, daring each other to talk to whichever pretty girl they happen to like, holding each other when Seokwoo gets devastating news… and that’s the annoying part, the other side of the coin, if you will. Juho learns of Seokwoo’s grandpa’s death a whole year before his best friend does, which is a pretty harrowing burden to carry. 

 

Youngbin he met a couple years later, and Juho saw similar visions of boyhood friendship continuing into adulthood, that contained little to no negativity and the promise of true friendship. So he befriended him as well, in the secure knowledge that their future held only good things. 

 

More often than not, however, he sees only  _ bad _ things in the eyes of passers by, random classmates, and people he’s introduced to by his friends. Some, if Juho chose to involve himself with them, would lead him down the dark path of addiction to various narcotics. Some would be toxic in a way that could tear Juho apart. Some would develop feelings that he would never reciprocate. 

 

Today, he’s locking eyes with a beautiful girl whom he could possibly say hi to, connect with, then take on one date, only to get slapped afterwards for some reason or other. He shakes his head and turns away, breaking eye contact so that the images stop and focusing on the lecture once more. He only meant to give her the pencil she’d dropped, anyway. 

 

It’s easy to see how having that all day, every day can be extremely tiring. He won’t lie, it gets lonely as well. Every time he wants to approach someone, in either a platonic or romantic way, he sees the rise and fall of their potential relationship before his eyes. Sometimes he gives up before it can even start. Sometimes he sees it partway through, with the inevitable end of the friendship/breakup hanging over his head until he can’t take it anymore. He’d never expected  _ forever _ anyway, that’s hard to find in a person, but for someone without his gift (curse), there’s always the possibility of forever, which always has to be better than knowing everything from the very start. 

 

When his lecture finishes, he packs his laptop away and leaves, typing out a text to Seokwoo asking if he’s free to meet at the off-campus café they visit regularly. He gets a quick reply, saying that his best friend is revising and can’t take a break at the moment, and to ask Youngbin. Juho does just that, doubtful that Youngbin will answer, because he’s always busy and doesn’t check his phone for hours at a time. He heads for the café anyway, because he’s had a craving for coffee for the whole morning but no opportunity to get one. 

 

He gets there to find the place absolutely packed full of people. There go his chances of sitting and enjoying his coffee in peace. As he waits in line for what seems like an age before ordering and waiting at the collection point, he can’t help but notice that there’s a person at a table on his own, checking his phone periodically with a disappointed expression. All of a sudden, he looks up, they make eye contact, and Juho has no time to prepare himself for the onslaught of images crashing over him.

  
  
  


He sees himself sitting down at the table, shy introductions being carried out before they start talking in earnest (he doesn’t get a glimpse of most of the conversation, but he learns that the man’s name is Inseong). Hours go by, presumably, as he sees the sky outside get darker and darker. He sees numbers being exchanged, promises of a date making themselves known not in words, but in the brush of hands and smiles that hint at the start of something. Then his mind shows him images of their first date- Inseong chooses ice skating, childish but fun, and Juho by this point is too infatuated to tell him that he’s never done anything of the sort before. Visions appear of them holding hands - for the sake of Juho's balance more than anything else - and then falling on their backsides, laughing and holding onto each other as they try to get up only to collapse back onto the ice. 

 

Things continue flashing in his mind’s eye in a similar manner, with flowers and cuddles and Inseong’s clothes starting to take up space in his wardrobe, until Juho sees the thing that he’s been expecting all along: the argument. He sees Inseong saying something, quietly furious, leaving and slamming the door behind him. Juho sees his own heartbreak and expects the images to end there - until he watches himself opening the door to a returning Inseong, and normally he isn’t allowed to know of specific things that are said, but this time a whole sentence is granted to him. 

 

_ “We can’t go to sleep angry at each other, we just  _ can’t _ … I couldn’t bear it.”  _

 

He watches them promise to try their best to make things work, and that’s where the images end, Juho tearing his eyes away from the stranger sitting in the corner as his name is called by the barista. He’d have liked to see the rest of whatever Fate has in store for him should he choose to go down that path, but he is craving caffeine, and, well… he can always go over to the man,  _ Inseong _ , and find out for himself. For once, he wants to seek his own forever, without knowledge of if it’s actually possible. 

 

Hesitantly, he does just that, taking his coffee and thanking the barista before walking over to the corner table. The stranger (as of now) looks up, almost expectantly, as he approaches, and it’s only then that Juho realises that he must have been staring for quite a long time while his possible future played out in his head. His face heats up at the realisation, but he puts his embarrassment aside to the best of his ability, taking a deep breath before asking, “Is this seat taken?” 

 

Inseong studies him for a while, delicate, almost fox like features schooled into a blank expression, before he replies. “It’s supposed to be.” It’s said dryly, with a wry smile, but the humour falls flat. “I’ve been stood up,” he explains, “so maybe it’s a good thing you’ve showed up.” Suddenly he smiles, and Juho is reminded of the flowers that bloom in spring, beautiful and cheerful in spite of the heavy rainfall. “Go ahead and sit down.” 

 

Juho does, smiling a little, and he only barely refrains from making a comment about fate. Despite what he already knows, Inseong’s only just met him and doesn’t even know his name yet. He has plenty of time to talk about destiny, but for now, he settles for saying that whoever stood Inseong up must be a fool. That makes the man laugh, and the sight and sound of it creates a warm feeling in his chest. He could get used to seeing that laugh.

  
  
  
  
  


In the end, Juho does learn what Fate had planned. Seokwoo and Youngbin find their forever, and when he looks their respective partners in the eyes, he can tell that his best friends have chosen the right people. Lee Sanghyuk is loud enough to counteract Youngbin’s quiet demeanor, is clingy and reacts well to the affection that Youngbin likes to shower people with, and it’s so evident how much he cares about the elder. Kang Chanhee, on the other hand, is quiet, pretends not to take kindly to sentiment, squeals and escapes when Seokwoo smothers him in hugs and kisses, but everyone can see his true feelings when Seokwoo’s back is turned and the youngest allows himself to stare with heart eyes and a gentle smile. 

 

As for Juho himself… well, his forever takes the form of Kim Inseong, with his bad jokes, beautiful voice and endless enthusiasm. Juho couldn’t be gladder that he hadn’t seen the full extent of their future; the experience of trying to make things work without any knowledge of what may come their way is tiring, but utterly exhilarating. Some things perhaps just aren’t meant to be known. 

 

He’s even more thankful when the unexpected happens, years into the future: they propose to each other at the same time. He stares at Inseong, who’s wearing a mirroring expression of disbelief, a small box in his hand nearly identical to the one in Juho's own. About a minute passes of shocked silence, before they burst out laughing, feelings of surprise and euphoria mingling to make the whole situation seem  _ incredibly _ funny. They swap rings after that- the ring Inseong chose for him has a simple engraving on the inside, _ KIS ♡ BJH _ , and the ring he chose for Inseong has three words on the inside,  _ you’re my forever _ . Juho holds his fiancé close and thanks all of his lucky stars that he didn’t spoil this magical moment for himself.

 

Maybe his ability is a blessing, after all. 


End file.
